William Arthur Evelyn (4 October 1860 – 6 January 1935) was a distinguished historian of

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, England. He championed the preservation and conservation of the city’s architectural and archaeological heritage. He also gathered an extensive collection of paintings, drawings and photographs of the city. The artworks were later sold to

York Art Gallery York Art Gallery is a public art gallery in York, England, with a collection of paintings from 14th-century to contemporary, prints, watercolours, drawings, and ceramics. It closed for major redevelopment in 2013, reopening in summer of 2015. T ...

. The

Evelyn collection The Evelyn Collection is a collection of lantern slides and photographs which was compiled by Dr William Arthur Evelyn in York, between 1891 and his death on 6 January 1935. It consists of many views of York: its streets, buildings and events. ...

of photographs are now cared for by the

Yorkshire Architectural and York Archaeological Society The Yorkshire Architectural and York Archaeological Society (Y.A.Y.A.S.) is a learned society formed in 1842 as the Yorkshire Architectural Society. Its membership was made up of clergymen and laymen led by Rev. George Ayliffe Poole from Leeds. It ...

(Y.A.Y.A.S). William Arthur Evelyn was born on 4 October 1860 in Presteigne, Radnorshire. He was the third child of Francis Evelyn and his wife Annie (nee Mawhill). William had an older sister Annie (1857 – 1889) who died young. His older brother Francis Evelyn (1859 – 1910) was a Justice of the Peace and played first-class cricket; a younger brother Edward Evelyn (footballer) (1862 – 1936) played football for Wales before emigrating to the U.S.A. William Arthur Evelyn was educated at Cheltenham Proprietary School,

Charterhouse School (God having given, I gave) , established = , closed = , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , president ...

and Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. In 1887 after further study at

St Thomas’ Hospital St Thomas' Hospital is a large NHS teaching hospital in Central London, England. It is one of the institutions that compose the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. Administratively part of the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foun ...

, London he became a doctor. He was interested in the possibility of curing pulmonary tuberculosis, or consumption, and, after completing his studies in Vienna, took up a position at the Brompton Consumption Hospital, London. In 1891 Evelyn moved to York to become a G.P. On the 14th of June 1894 Evelyn married Constance Hardman in Reigate parish church. They went on to have 5 children. In 1902 Evelyn joined the

(Y.A.Y.A.S). It had been formed in 1842 to protect and promote the study of ecclesiastical architecture but in more recent years its remit had expanded to include archaeological sites and secular buildings. Evelyn was an active member and acted as treasurer and secretary. From 1931 to his death, he was Vice-president of the society. He was a leader in several of the society’s campaigns including those to protect and preserve the York’s walls, Queen Margaret’s Arch and the city’s oldest houses in Goodramgate. Evelyn was an avid collector of artwork which depicted York and its environs. He used lantern slides of many of his pieces to illustrate public lectures on the history of the city. In 1931 the City of York bought his collection of paintings, drawings and engravings for £3000. These are now housed in

. The glass lantern slide collection, now named the

, was given to Y.A.Y.A.S. in December 1934. Evelyn died on 6 January 1935 at his home in Clifton, York.Many Mourners at York Leeds Mercury 10 January 1935 page 3 The Evelyns claimed to be descended from

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or memo ...

(1620–1706), the diarist.

References

* Hugh Murray (1983) ''Doctor Evelyn’s York: the life and work of a pioneer of conservation of the City between 1891 and 1935, illustrated by many photographs of a changing York, from his slide collection''. York, England: Wiliam Sessions: Ebor Press in association with the

. 1860 births 1935 deaths 20th-century Welsh historians Historians of Yorkshire 19th-century Welsh historians {{England-historian-stub